On December 20, 1736, Geronimo married a twenty-one-year-old widow,
#8
Juana de Avero, the second oldest of the Avero daughters.#8 She had first
#9
married at sixteen, wedding a ship's pilot named Simon de Morales and
#10
bearing him a son who died shortly after birth. 0 The date of her husband's

#11
death is not certain, but she obviously had become romantically involved

with Geronimo by early 1736, for she bore him a daughter, Eugenia Bacilia,

a week before their marriage. #12 The union ultimately produced four more

De Hitas were luckier than most parents of the time--all their children lived

to maturity 14

Geronimo owned two houses in 1763, the one on St. George Street

and another, also of tabby, on the south side of present-day Bridge Street
#15
in the middle of the block between Charlotte and St. George Streets. #15

We can assume, however, that he lived in the former, among his wife's
#16
sisters and their families. Unfortunately, none of the sources consulted
/
revealed when the houses were built or how Geronimo acquired them.

Like most residents of St. Augustine, Geronimo failed to sell his

properties before leaving Florida and thus relied on Elixio de la Puente to

dispose of them when he returned to St. Augustine in May, 1764, acting as

agent for the departed residents. But even such a capable man as Elixio de la

Puente enjoyed scant success, for most incoming British soldiers lacked the

money to buy property, and the civilians hoped to secure grants from the
government. #17 Consequently, as the eighteen-month deadline fr property
government. Consequently, as the eighteen-month deadline for property

14. No entries for children of Geronimo de Hita and Juana de Avero were
found in the burial records from 1736 to 1763. See also "Yncidentes, "
EFP, Testamentary Proceedings, 1801 Bundle 306Q15, No. 13, p. 5v.

19. Not until 1801 did their daughter Francisca claim the sum owed them by
the estate of the deceased Jesse Fish. "Yncidentes, EFP, Testamentary
Proceedings, 1801, Bundle 306Q15, no. 13.

20. Ibid., p. 2.

21. James Moncrief, "Map of St. Augustine, c. 1765.

22. William Gerard DeBrahm, DeBrahm's Report of the General Survey in
the Southern District of North America, edited and with an introduction
by Louis DeVorsey, Jr. (Columbia, S. C.: University of South Carolina
Press, 1971), p. 185. DeBrahm described Rainsford as a "saw miller,"
as having "left the province" and as being "in the army. "

In light of this evidence and the fact that both the de la Rocque
and Diaz Berrio maps show the site as vacant, the reference
to the "house and lot" of Francisco Canto in the Quesada
inventory must be an error. See "Yventarios Tasaciones, y
venta en public Remate de las Casas y Solares del Rey, "
EFP, Assesor's Inventory, 1792-1806, Bundle 320, no.44.

57. The hotel is listed at 35 St. George St. in the R. L. Polk Co. St.
Augustine City Directory, 1949, Household Directory Section, p. 52.
In the Polk Directory for 1951, No. 35 is "vacant, (p. 417) indicating
that the building still stood even though the hotel was no longer in
business. In the 1953-54 Directory, the number 35 disappears alto-
gether (p. 496). The structure was probably razed between 1951 and 1953.

Charles Cohen, a widower, and Gertrude Baer,
a married woman, joined by her husband and next
friend Max Baer: plaintiffs
vs.
Sophie Gerstel, a widow,; individually, and as
Administratrix of the estate of David Gerstel,
deceased: defendant L0+ 5
Suit for foreclosure of mortgage on part of-6-5-,
Block 7 and Lot 4, Block 7 (occupied by Dixie Highway Hotel)
Source: St. Johns County Public Records, Lis Pendens
Docket, Book 3, p. 524.

Aforesaid mortgage foreclosed. Court assumes
property for public sale.
Source: St. Johns County Public Records, Chancery
Order Book 15, p. 455.